Use of wet‐laid techniques to form flax‐polypropylene nonwovens as base substrates for eco‐friendly composites by using hot‐press molding

Abstract The wet‐laid process with flax (base) and polypropylene (binder) fibers has been used to obtain nonwovens for further processing by hot‐press molding. Mechanical characterization of nonwovens has revealed that slight anisotropy is obtained with the wet‐laid process as better tensile strength is obtained in the preferential deposition direction. The thermo‐bonding process provides good cohesion to nonwovens, which is critical for further handling/shaping by hot‐press molding. Flax:PP composites have been processed by stacking eight individual flax:PP nonwoven sheets and applying moderate temperature and pressure. As the amount of binder fiber is relatively low (<30 wt%) if compared with similar systems processed by extrusion and injection molding, it is possible to obtain eco‐friendly composites as the total content on natural fiber (flax) is higher than 70 wt%. Mechanical characterization of hot‐pressed flax:PP composites has revealed high dependency of tensile and flexural strength on the total amount of binder fiber as this component is responsible for flax fiber embedment which is a critical parameter to ensure good fiber–matrix interaction. Combination of wet‐laid techniques with hot‐press molding processes is interesting from both technical and environmental points of view as high natural fiber content composites with balanced properties can be obtained. POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers